Sky of the Sky
by justlook3
Summary: It's Cassandra's birthday and Jake turns to poetry to find the perfect gift.


This is a birthday gift for browneyesparker who gave me the poem "i carry you in my heart" by e.e. cummings as a prompt.

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><p>Jake rechecked the piece of paper that he was holding and scowled at Ezekiel. "You're sure these are the coordinates for where I want to go?"<p>

"I told ya mate, this is the place to go. It's on all the world travel websites."

"And you're not sendin' me to a dumpster in an alley in Pittsburgh?" Jake asked, still skeptical.

Jones rolled his eyes. "Look this is for Cassandra right?"

"Yes."

"For her birthday. Look, I know we don't agree on a lot but we do agree on her."

Jake nodded shortly. He was pretty sure the thief had different feelings toward Cassandra (and Jake was not going to dwell on what his own feelings were) but he knew Jones wouldn't hurt her for the world.

"Then, no. She will love it. Kinda wish I'd thought of it."

"You could," Jake sighed, giving up. "Come with us, I guess."

"Nah, Stone, I wouldn't want to intrude on your date."

"It's not . . ."

Jones just winked at him. "Tell her I'll buy her a drink later. See ya!" And then he was gone in a flash.

"A date." He sighed. "Yeah, if I tell myself that enough I might start to believe it."

Then he took out his phone and called Cassandra.

When he met Cassandra by the back door, he'd bundled up, wool hat, gloves, heavy coat, boots. He sighed as he looked her over. He'd told her to dress warmly, but there she was in one of her skirts. A little longer than the ones she usually wore and her leggings looked thick but still.

"Are you going to be warm enough? I said dress warm. I mean it, it's going to be cold."

She grinned. "I'm sure, I wore less in Alaska."

He sighed, "Hat, scarf, gloves?"

She giggled and bundled up. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

He spun the globe. Then he took her hand, "Happy Birthday."

The door opened into a farm outbuilding and after the usual stumble, they walked out into twilight. It was quite cold and Cassandra shivered in spite of herself.

"Where are we? "

"The Svalbard Islands in Norway. It's polar . . ."

"Polar twilight. Oh Jake, are we here to see the Northern Lights?"

He nodded. "We didn't really have time to see them in Alaska, the show should be really good here."

He led her up a small ridge nearby. It was quite dark and he had a passing thought about the local wildlife. He just had to hope that they didn't run into any. Well and also that the atmosphere was right tonight for a display.

He need not have worried as Cassandra let out a gasp next to him. Green swirled across the sky, almost dancing around them.

"Wow," She breathed, made uncharacteristically speechless by the display. She was also shivering more then she had before. He moved to stand behind her and put his arms around her, pulling her into him.

Cassandra felt safe and happy standing against his sturdy chest, his warm strong arms around her. Probably the best birthday ever.

She realized he was softly speaking reciting some poetry she didn't recognize

_here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud _

_and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows higher_

_than soul can hope or mind can hide_

_and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart_

"That's e.e. cummings." He murmured somewhere near her ear. She could have sworn he pressed a kiss there too, though it was so cold she could never be sure.

"Are you cold?" He finally asked.

She shook her head, but her teeth chattered.

"Oh Cassie," He pulled her closer for a moment. "We probably should go anyway, I don't want to run into any polar bears in the dark."

The Library was toasty warm when they returned and Cassandra sighed happily, doing a little twirl when they were back inside.

"Thank you so much Jake, how did you know I'd like that?"

"I got it from a poem," He winked at her. "Do you want some coffee or tea or somethin'? I could use somethin' hot."

"Hot chocolate?"

"I think there's some in the kitchen, it's your birthday, I'll go get it."

Poem.

While he was gone, she tried to remember the poem he'd mentioned. She grabbed her phone and googled e.e. cummings and one of the lines. Then her eyes went wide.

_i carry your heart with me_

"There was this cupcake with a candle in it in the kitchen," Jake laughed, coming back out with it. "I think either the Library is now bakin' or Jenkins snuck it in. Hang on, I didn't have enough hands."

He handed her a cup of hot chocolate, then struggled a bit with the matchbook he'd found in the kitchen.

"Make a wish," He grinned.

There was a bit of a bittersweet smile on her face at that and he winced.

"I'm so sorry Cass, that was . . .I wasn't thinkin'."

"It's alright. I have a wish that's just a little more likely to come true anyway." She smiled softly and then blew out the candle.

She offered him half of the cupcake and they sat eating the cupcake and sipping their drinks, talking over how beautiful the Aurora had been.

"What did you wish for?" He asked, finishing his cup of coffee.

She smiled, "It doesn't come true when you tell!"

"Well," He sighed, "Jones said that he was going to come back to take you out for a drink, so I should probably go."

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" She asked.

"Nah, I offered to let him come with us, but he said . . . Well, I got you to myself, so it's only fair."

"Jake," Cassandra bit her lip, "Ezekiel is like a brother to me."

"You don't have to explain . . . ."

"No, I think I do. Jake, the poem . . ."

He closed his eyes. "I was just readin' it the other day, it reminded me of the Northern Lights . . . ."

"Jake, stop it. I do too. I do too."

When Ezekiel Jones popped in the room, five minutes later, he stopped dead. Cassandra was sitting on Jake's lap and they were softly kissing, completely unaware of the existence of anything or anyone else.

He grinned and whispered, "Good on ya, mate."

Then turned and walked back out, whistling to himself.

The End


End file.
